Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing Scotland's deposit return scheme as a pilot scheme for a future UK-wide deposit return scheme.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government has confirmed that it will introduce a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in England, subject to consultation. The specific model, scope and scale of any scheme is being considered as part of this consultation, which is also being undertaken with the Welsh government and the Northern Ireland administration.
As waste and recycling policy is a devolved matter, the devolved administrations can decide policy separately. The Government is therefore unable to specify how a DRS in Scotland should be implemented, nor at this point are we considering specifically a pilot scheme. However, ministers and officials have met to discuss progress and recognise the benefits of a coherent system across the UK. DRS in England could form part of a coherent system across the UK and we will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations on this policy area.
The role of a Deposit Management Organisation in managing the operation of a DRS, including being responsible for the maintenance of Reverse Vending Machines, is currently being considered as part of our consultation. We will consider alternative approaches as part of our analysis of the consultation responses.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what alternatives to the proposed deposit management organisation for maintaining reverse vending machines his Department considered for inclusion in the proposals for a UK-wide deposit return scheme.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government has confirmed that it will introduce a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in England, subject to consultation. The specific model, scope and scale of any scheme is being considered as part of this consultation, which is also being undertaken with the Welsh government and the Northern Ireland administration.
As waste and recycling policy is a devolved matter, the devolved administrations can decide policy separately. The Government is therefore unable to specify how a DRS in Scotland should be implemented, nor at this point are we considering specifically a pilot scheme. However, ministers and officials have met to discuss progress and recognise the benefits of a coherent system across the UK. DRS in England could form part of a coherent system across the UK and we will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations on this policy area.
The role of a Deposit Management Organisation in managing the operation of a DRS, including being responsible for the maintenance of Reverse Vending Machines, is currently being considered as part of our consultation. We will consider alternative approaches as part of our analysis of the consultation responses.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will create a new regulator to address (a) horse welfare and (b) deaths of race horses.
Answered by David Rutley
The British Horserace Authority (BHA) are responsible for the welfare of racehorses at racetracks. The BHA work in collaboration with the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make racetracks as safe as possible. The number of racehorse fatalities at racetracks has been falling steadily since 2012, which is welcome. However, whilst I do not see a need for a new regulator, I consider that improvements can be made to further reduce the number of racehorse fatalities each year. I will explore this issue further when I meet BHA to discuss racehorse safety.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much revenue to the public purse there has been associated with packaging recovery notes in each year since 2010; how much of that money has been invested into improving recycling facilities; and what control measures are in place to ensure that funds are spent appropriately.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Revenue from the sale of Packaging Waste Recovery Notes (PRNs) and Packaging Waste Export Recovery Notes (PERNs) does not go to the public purse.
Reprocessors and exporters who are accredited to issue PRNs and PERNs are required to report the revenue received to the Environment Agency.
The Environment Agency publishes this data on how this income has been spent for capacity building within the system against specific categories.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the producer responsibility regime in reducing the amount of plastic waste; and if he will take steps to increase the contribution producers make towards the cost of collecting and recycling plastic waste.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
We are exploring changes to the packaging producer responsibility scheme, including mechanisms to incentivise better design and encourage the use of recycled material, as well as the funding of collection within the system.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to set a target for recycling disposable coffee cups.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Current packaging policies and regulations have resulted in recycling of packaging rising from around 46% in 2005 to 64% in 2016, with recycling of paper packaging at 82% in 2016 data.
We do not currently have plans to set a specific target for the recycling of disposable coffee cups. Under the Packaging Waste Regulations major coffee retailers already have a legal and financial obligation to recover and recycle a proportion of the packaging they place on the market, including disposable coffee cups.
The industry is also taking further, voluntary action aimed at significantly increasing paper cup recycling rates by 2020.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has a target for the reduction of single use plastics.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
This Government is a world leader in tackling plastic waste, not only banning microbeads, but also taking 9 billion plastic bags out of circulation with our 5p carrier bag charge.
On 11 January we published our 25 Year Environment Plan that stated our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042 and, in particular, the waste from single-use plastics. The steps we will be taking to do this include exploring the introduction of plastic-free aisles by retailers; exploring how we can develop our producer responsibility schemes to give producers more incentives to design more resource efficient products; and extending the carrier bag charge to small retailers.
In the 25 Year Environment Plan the Government also announced a plan to remove all consumer single use plastics from the central government estate offices. Defra Group are carrying out a full analysis of single use plastic through our supply chain and setting a requirement that new catering services exclude all consumer single use plastics. We work closely with other government departments and their agencies through the Greening Government Commitments to reduce their impacts on the environment.
In autumn 2017 an independent working group set up under the Litter Strategy for England held a call for evidence on measures to reduce littering of drinks containers and promote recycling. This included seeking evidence on the costs, benefits and impacts of deposit return schemes. Ministers are now considering the working group’s report.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Departments holds on the volume of plastic waste from the recycling facilities in Hertfordshire that has been sent to (a) landfill, (b) incineration, (c) energy recovery and (d) exported abroad.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Defra does not hold specific data on the volume of plastic waste from recycling facilities in Hertfordshire that was landfilled, incinerated, sent to energy recovery or exported. This is because data is not structured specifically around material streams or facilities and regions in this way.
Under separate Producer Responsibility Obligations for packaging, where plastic packaging accounts for around 60% of total plastics arising’s in 2014, there are no accredited plastic reprocessors or accredited plastic exporters situated in Hertfordshire.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that plastic waste exported from the UK is being used in an environmentally-friendly way.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Businesses involved in the shipment of wastes are required to take all necessary steps to ensure that the waste they ship is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout its shipment and during its recycling.
The UK environmental regulators take an intelligence led approach to checking compliance with these obligations focussing on specific problematic wastes. Enforcement activity occurs in transit, at roadsides and at ports. However, the regulators continue to focus significant effort on identifying, stopping and intervening at source prior to illegal exports taking place.
The regulators also provide easily understood guidance for those responsible for exporting waste which allows anyone involved in the export of waste to determine which wastes can be legitimately exported to which countries and the procedures they must follow to do things legally.
Last year the Environment Agency issued 130 stop notices, prohibiting the export of unsuitable waste. It also stopped 4,565 tonnes of waste destined for illegal export at ports and intervened further upstream to prevent a further 15,113 tonnes of waste from reaching our ports. This work ensures we’re not exporting our problem wastes for unsuitable treatment or disposal.
We cannot ultimately dictate how UK waste is managed once it leaves the UK. There is a system of international rules on shipments which must be followed. The authorities in countries that receive UK waste also need to be clear about the types of waste they will accept and the waste import procedures they require exporters to adhere to.
Tackling waste is a top priority for the government. The Clean Growth Strategy, published on 12 October 2017, set out our ambition for zero avoidable waste by 2050 and announced we are exploring changes to the producer responsibility scheme. We must reduce the amount of waste we produce overall and increase the amount we recycle in the UK. We will set out further steps when we publish a new Resources and Waste Strategy later this year.